Alphabet Challenge: J is for JEALOUSY
by toobeauty
Summary: There is jealousy and new players enter the game ...


TITLE: J is for JEALOUSY.

AUTHOR: Too_beauty.

PAIRING: Alexander & Hephaestion.

RATING: PG.

CATEGORY: Historical AU

DISCLAMER: I don't know the people involved, they belong to History and to themselves but I wouldn't mind sharing my life with Phai *sighs*

WARNING: None, just m/m relationship.

NO BETA so all mistakes are mine.

FEEDBACK: comments are love!

Some days before the king's wedding to the Bactrian Princess Roxane, Alexander thought that his head was about to break into thousands of pieces, the eldest commanders in his Army had been pestering again with the same recurrent and annoying subject: his marriage and the need of an heir for the Macedonian Kingdom.

However, this subject was not the one which worried him most but another which was thornier than this one; Parmenion had been insisting that the relationship "eromenos-erastes" between Alexander and Hephaestion had to come to an end as both of them were not longer teens but men proved in battle. Alexander was reluctant to this because his relationship with Hephaestion only concerned to him as a man and not as King; Alexander had always tried to differentiate his King persona from his Alexander persona but nobody understood him, except Hephaestion who had been treating him differently as one or the other according to the occasion.

But Alexander was worried because when Parmenion brought again this last issue in their last meeting, Hephaestion hadn't moved a single muscle and not even a gesture of annoyance could be seen in his face, neither a flinch nor a nervous blink of his amazing blue eyes.

After the meeting, Alexander tried to speak to Hephaestion to reassure him that things were not going to change between them after his marriage; he needed to tell that to his brunette General because he knew he might be thinking that; but Hephaestion went quickly out of the room and that was really strange as he usually stayed after the meetings to share his opinions and impressions about the topic discussed.

The General was missing most of the day, he was also absent for lunch and that worried Alexander because he hadn't assigned him any special task or mission.

Decided to know what was going on with his lover, he took his way to his chamber; in there he found a scroll whose handwriting he knew very well and it brought a smile to his face, thinking that it had been a while since Hephaestion wrote him a love letter, but the letter said that Stephanos needed to retrieve his belongings from the King's chamber and asked him when the best time for doing this was.

Alexander was puzzled and he wondered why Hephaestion wanted to move his things out; he felt a pang in his heart but he answered the letter and sent it back to his owner.

Stephanos came immediately but the young King couldn't tolerate seeing him packing so he left his room and went to the stable to fetch Bucephalus and go for a ride. He also asked his bodyguards to follow him with a certain distance because he needed solitude.

The King came back from his ride around dinner time with a serious face and tired bones; his body language was so clear that, even the ones who never dawned on did it this time.

Alexander looked at the food served on his plate but didn't touch it, his mouth was dry and sandy but he didn't want to drink either, his eyes wandered around the room looking for his cerulean partners but their owner was not there, but after some minutes, a well flushed Hephaestion arrived, apologizing to the King for his tardiness. He sat next to Alexander and gifted him with a small smile which immediately lightened the dark mood of the King.

When the meal was over, Alexander leaned to his right and asked Hephaestion to go for a walk, just both of them, because he wanted to enjoy the magnificent summer sky.

Both lovers walked very quietly for more than ten minutes, the King didn't dare to break the silence but he knew that he needed to do that if he wanted to get an answer. And he got his answer: his Hephaestion had decided to make the first move and end their relationship as lovers due to the incoming wedding. His only reason was that Alexander needed to focus on his wife and the future heir and that Parmenion was right about this issue.

Alexander was shocked because of his lover's decision and remained silent, he didn't know how to save the situation, the only thing he wanted was to reaffirm their love but he was given the cold shoulder instead.

Hephaestion had been more than convincing with his always logical reasoning and the mask he was wearing during all the conversation didn't move even a little.

They went back to the palace, in silence, in a mood that was not natural, the guards and people they came across looked at them curiously when they parted ways, each one to their own chamber.

The wedding day arrived, Alexander was wearing his best clothes and jewels, the Bactrian bride was covered from head to feet in red and surprisingly, Hephaestion was wearing the same colour, with his long auburn hair touching his shoulders. He stood there, proudly, with shiny eyes that could be easily mistaken with joy, all along the ceremony but he finally gave in, his eyes were downcast, but in a moment, he felt the need to lift his gaze and he met Alexander's eyes fixed on him while he was promising to look after his love; when everybody present started to clap and cheer, Alexander mouthed "I love you" but Hephaestion just stared him back, immobile and turned his back to him.

Weeks went by and Alexander's patience was being very narrow, his wife had turned from being a sweet girl to a demanding woman who was always claiming for his presence, not only on her table but also in her bed. But this particularly morning, the Queen was unbearable and the young King left the chamber in a rush, heading to the river to take a long cold bath. On his way, he saw, with the corner of his eye, a slender and tall body he knew more than well and missed it badly. Hephaestion was wearing a white short chiton, leather sandals and his hair was tied over his nape, which was rather strange on these days. Alexander thought that Hephaestion was smartly dressed for their meeting but maybe his former lover wanted to gain him back and he was more than wiling to do that. This possibility soothed his anger and, after his bath, he put a lot of attention in his attire. But to his misfortune, the brunette General was not there and Stephanos gave him a letter in which his former lover apologized for his absence due to some personal problems. Alexander asked the page what those personal problems were but the loyal page said he didn't know and added that Hephaestion had been more reserved with his personal things lately.

The next day, Alexander organized a hunting trip, he wanted and needed to spend time with his Phai and finally discovered what was worrying his soul mate. The hunting was more than successful, Hephaestion got the first prey but he didn't offer it to Alexander as it was his customs but shared it with all his companion who looked at him in astonishment.

After eating, they decided to take a nap under the trees and Alexander knew that the perfect moment had arrived. He asked directly Hephaestion if he had a problem and the brunette General said that he didn't but he didn't go on speaking. Alexander looked at his Phai's eyes and saw something that he hadn't seen for a long time, his eyes were bluer than ever, not even a tiny cloud was there in them and his face looked more peaceful. Alexander got really sad because he knew he was losing him.

Not only Alexander saw the changes in Hephaestion but also his companions, and it was the comment among the soldiers; rumours were coming and going among them and even the Cavalry had bet on him. There were several theories about his changes but one was the strongest: Hephaestion had a new lover and this person was doing marvels on him because he looked more handsome than ever.

At the moment, everyone wanted to know if this lover was male or female. They were discussing it while passing a sheepskin full of unwatered wine and Cleitus was the one speaking when the king approached unnoticed to the ones gathered there.

Cleitus affirmed that by the way Hephaestion was acting his current lover should be a woman because he was completely different as he used to be and everybody knew that his former lover had been a true man, but he had never acted like that.

Alexander felt a stab in his heart and he didn't want to believe what he was listening, he wondered how Hephaestion could take a lover knowing how much he loved and needed him by his side.

He couldn't and wouldn't believe this; however, he started to follow Hephaestion's movements more closely but he didn't dare to send spies after him because Hephaestion was a master at shacking people off. So Alexander decided to investigate by himself; the next morning the King asked Ptolemy about Hephaestion's whereabouts but the elder companion didn't give him any extra hint, just reaffirmed that he looked happier.

Later that day, Alexander saw the General leaving towards the outskirts but after following him for some stadia, he lost him and the King went back to palace feeling blue.

When dinner was over, a drunken voice shouted from the other side of the dinning room that Hephaestion was looking happier and gorgeous that night and the mentioned man just blushed and went back to his chamber humming, that put Alexander on alert because his Phai only hummed after having sex. So the theory of the lover was true, now he had to discover who she was and he wouldn't rest until discover who was the woman who had taken his Phai from him.

Some days later, some Egyptian merchants arrived to the palace with their treasures, especially pieces of fine cloth. Alexander saw Hephaestion heading to the market and stopped at one of the stalls, after some minutes, he bought a beautiful pink cotton cloth and other pale orange, very feminine colours. He went on looking and stopped again at another stand where a man was selling jewels and he bought some pearls, finally at the silk stand he bought a night blue cloak. Hephaestion gathered all his purchases and went back to the palace, peeping inside the packages and smiling at them.

Alexander thought that Hephaestion had to be really in love with that woman because he had spent so much and that was strange because Hephaestion had always been a very modest man.

Alexander's heart felt heavier than before and sighed because they were so apart that he doubted he could recover his love. To put the matter worse, Roxane was getting really furious with him because he hadn't visited her in the last weeks and when he did, his performance was really bad.

Everybody could see that Hephaestion was changing, like flourishing, and Alexander was sinking into a deep depression, which got even deeper when one morning he saw a love bite on Hephaestion's neck; that was the straw that broke the camel's back, if Hephaestion was letting her to mark him like that, she had to be very important because Alexander was never allowed to do that and always being told off.

Hephaestion, even though he was immersed in his happy world, realized that Alexander was acting really strange but he couldn't figure out what was causing it. He had heard many times to the Royal couple shouting at each other and he really pitied his King because he thought that he had found love with her. He even tried to speak to him about this specific subject but Alexander had dismissed him.

Hephaestion continued disappearing some more days, around the same time of the day, always in the same direction and then coming back humming. But one day, this routine changed and he was back to his old habits, spending more time with his men and even though he still looked happy, he also looked tired. His disappearances were not so long and whenever he came back, he looked a bit worn out and dusty.

Alexander couldn't bare this heavy burden in his heart and he decided that, not matter how cruel the truth could be, it was better that the uncertainty he was feeling; so he asked directly to Hephaestion who the woman of his heart was. Hephaestion looked at him a bit surprised and asked why he had assumed it was a woman; Alexander took a long black hair from his chiton and showed it to him. Hephaestion took it in his hand and while smiling, he wound it in his index finger. He looked at Alexander and said that her name was Aglaia, that her eyes were big and as black as ebony as well as her long black hair. Hephaestion also added that she was quite sweet and enjoyed apples a lot.

Alexander asked him if he could meet her and Hephaestion said that he would be more than happy to introduce him to her but that would have to wait until the next day because she would probably be asleep by that time.

The next morning, after breakfast, Hephaestion waited for Alexander outside the palace, the King was bringing a basket with red apples and Hephaestion gave him a big smile. They walked for some minutes, Hephaestion chatting about his woman happily and Alexander getting every moment gloomier, finally they reached a nice farm in the outskirts, Hephaestion went to the back of the farm and smiling at his king, he said:

"My King, let me introduce you to Aglaia" Hephaestion said with a wicked smile on his lips.

"Hephaestion, Aglaia is a foal!"

**AGLAIA** (Ἀγλαΐα): Greek myth name of one of the three Graces, meaning "beauty, splendor."


End file.
